Friday, February 17, 2006

Almond Pudding

(Keskul)

Beat the egg yolks, then whisk them with the sugar, almond extract, corn starch and milk in a bowl. Pour in a medium sized pot. Stir constantly on medium heat. Throw in the almonds when you see the bubbles on the surface. Boil one more minute while stirring. Take it off the stove. Pour into small serving bowls. Let them cool for an hour. Sprinkle some ground pistachio and/or shredded coconut on top. Chill them in the fridge with the tops covered.

12 Comments:

I think a bit of almond extract (but not too much) would be more appropriate than vanilla, as the original keşkül is made with bitter almonds, which are hard to find outside the Mediterranean. For a smoother pudding, put the almonds (or a combination of almonds and pistachios, yum!) in a blender with just enough hot milk to make a thick liquid, and let it run a couple minutes.

Hi Binnur,I have tried many of your recipes (i.e. mercimek koftesi) and loved all of them. Last night I decided to make the almond pudding and had the same problem as another anonymous writer. I followed the recipe exactly and the pudding remained liquid like milk. I even made sure to cook on medium heat. What am I doing wrong?

The reason why pudding becomes liquid is overheating it (little starch pieces will absorb too much water, break apart and that makes pudding liquid) and the other problem can occur with egg yolks (if you overheat these, your pudding will have egg pieces in it (denaturation of egg proteins).

Hi. I'm an expat here in turkey. What is ALMOND EXTRACT here? ı've been to baharat (spice store) & grocery to look for badem tat but couldn't find it. I wanna make this kesul too. ^_^. any suggestions or badem tat is the wrong ingredient translation.??? tnx

Selam Binnur hanım,With some hesitation I made it today and came up perfect. I think you need to be patient and cook it in low heat. Thank you for the delicious dishes. You are my go to site when I cook. Mary